Bonnie Thurston believes “place shapes person.” Her book of poetry, The Heart’s Lands (2001) dealt with New Mexico and England. Belonging to Borders (2011) is about Celtic places. Cinnamon Press (Wales) had an open call for manuscripts. Of over 1000 received, her book of poems about the southern Appalachians,
A Place to Pay Attention (2014), was one of 10 selected for publication.
Dr. Bonnie Thurston, a native of West Virginia, currently lives in solitude near Wheeling, WV having resigned the William F. Orr Professorship in New Testament at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in 2002. She earned the B.A. in English (First Honors) from Bethany College, and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. Bonnie wrote her doctoral dissertation on Thomas Merton and is particularly interested in his poetry and inter-religious thought. She has done post-doctoral work in New Testament at Harvard Divinity School; Eberhard Karls University in Tuebingen, Germany; and the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem. Bonnie has written or edited fifteen theological books and over 100 articles, has contributed to reference works in New Testament and taught at the university level for 30 years. Her poetry frequently appears in religious periodicals, and she has authored three volumes of verse, all published in Wales. Bonnie is a widow, an avid reader, gardener and cook, enjoys classical music (especially the opera and liturgical music) and loves the West Virginia hills.
